As Joey Michael lines up in front of more than 18,000 strong, he hears the crowd crescendo. The intensity of the atmosphere of a sold out Bobcat Stadium ignites the blood pumping through his veins. The power of the moment reaches a peak as the official blows his whistle and the kicker raises his hand. Then the stadium goes silent for what seems like an eternity. At that moment, Michael locks in his focus.
As the ball floats through the air, Michael, a former state champion hurdler who is now a 6-foot-3, 205-pound fifth-year senior linebacker, looks like a missile as he screams down the field. Michael has toiled behind Mac Bignell, arguably Montana State’s elite defensive talent, for two seasons so he needs to get his fix in other ways. Running down to cover kicks during home games in Bozeman ranks among the top options around.
“At home, running down on kickoff is unlike anything else,” Michael said. “You get to run out there and look up in the stands and it’s packed full of people all in blue and gold. The atmosphere is incomparable. I wait for the whistle, I hear the whistle, then it goes silent.
“I just run as fast as I can.”
Michael has been a special teams standout for Montana State going on three seasons. He’s covered so many punts and kicks since first earning eligibility in 2014, he can indicate where the returner might run with uncanny accuracy. Once he knows who has the ball and where they might run to, he will blow up a single man who tries to block him or split a double team like a hot knife through butter, the latter his more common practice now that he has a reputation.
Michael’s special teams acumen has risen to the point where teams scheme for him specifically. Over the last three seasons, he has almost two dozen special teams tackles. Michael often takes on double teams and if he does get a one-on-one, it’s against the opponents’ special teams stud. A week ago, Michael batted with hulking Bryant fullback Jake Wiswall on no less than five special teams play, causing a voluminous pop each time and drawing extra attention from officials in case tempers boil over.
“He’s a guy who just embraces his role every Saturday,” MSU special teams coordinator B.J. Robertson said. “He’s physical, he can run, he uses his hands well, he plays with low pad level and his overall intensity and desire to get the job done is unparalleled on our team.”
Michael screams down the field with reckless abandon, often intimidating opponents but other times looking like a crash test dummy asking to get taken off his feet. His fearless nature helps him erase any question about injury possibility because of the velocity he carries in his sprints.
“You always want the guy to be the hammer not the nail and Joey is the definition of the hammer,” Robertson said. “I’m no physics major, but they absorb the force if you are going faster. I think that’s what Joey relies on most.”
When he first transferred to Montana State, the former Division III safety found himself playing Sam linebacker behind 2014 team captain Cole Moore. In the spring of 2015, Michael battled fellow converted safety Bignell to take over for Moore in former MSU defensive coordinator Jamie Marshall’s scheme. Bignell produced standout performances during both spring and fall camp, then went out and had an All-Big Sky Conference junior season. After edging out Michael as the Sam spot, Bignell piled up 20.5 tackles for loss on an otherwise beleaguered MSU defense.
Rather than resent the former walk-on from Class C Drummond, Michael decided to find a way to make an impact on the field. Michael has worked tirelessly, first under former special teams Daniel DaPrato and now Robertson to define his role.
“I love Joey, I love just him man,” said MSU first-year head coach Jeff Choate, a special teams guru with stops over the last decade at Boise State, Washington State, Florida and Washington as the ST coordinator. “That kid is all about it.”
Montana State will host Division II Western Oregon on Saturday afternoon. MSU has seven elected team captains — senior running backs Chad Newell and Gunnar Brekke, senior offensive lineman J.P. Flynn, Bignell, senior linebacker Fletcher Collins and junior safeties Bryson McCabe and Khari Gardcia — but Michael will walk to the middle of the field for the coin toss as an honorary game captain.
“The one thing that special teams does is it brings a ton of energy to the field,” Flynn said. “One special teams play, you can make a world of difference in momentum, whether that’s a huge hit, making a tackle or simply doing your job, setting an edge, spilling a play. That’s what Joey Michael does better than anyone on this team.”
“Joey is our best special teams player, no doubt,” added Bignell. “He’s just a thorn on the other team.”
Despite his lean frame, Michael has sculpted his physique and improved his natural speed during his time at Montana State. His explosiveness at the point of attack coupled by his safety speed has provided him the ability to wreak havoc each time the cleat hits the pigskin.
So noticeable and resounding are Michael’s hits on kick and punt teams, he’s garnered a following from his teammates. Each Sunday one of the first pieces of film the team watches is special teams clips. All eyes can’t help but stick on No. 42 screaming down the field.
“I love coming in on Sundays and watching that film with everyone on the team and watching how they react,” MSU linebackers coach Kane Ioane said. “You can point out Joey’s effort, his physicality and how he sets the tempo on every single rep. He sets the tone on every opening kickoff. On every special teams unit, you watch 42 and say, ‘That’s how you do it. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
“They don’t call it the ‘nut squad’ for no reason and he’s the leader of the ‘nuts’, no doubt,” Flynn added.
“It’s amazing to get noticed for putting in work and putting your body in there,” Michael said. “Since high school, I’ve loved hitting people. Kickoff is a huge opportunity to do that and people are trying to block you when you are running down full speed, so I try to blow up everything.”
Michael grew up in Cashmere, a town of about 3,000 in north central Washington. His father, Ed, managed the Hobby Lobby arts and crafts store 30 minutes south of Cashmere, in Wenatchee while his mother, Connie, taught elementary school. His parents now live in Billings and his mother teaches second grade in Hardin.
After winning Washington 1A state championships in the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles as well as starring on the football field, Joey held a preferred walk-on offer from Montana State but took a scholarship from Division III Pacific in Oregon, 23 miles outside of Portland.
Michael also held track interest from Washington State, but ultimately chose Pacific and broke into the starting lineup as a safety and on all special teams his first season in 2012. When Michael initially committed to Pacific, he self-admittedly “knew not much about college football.” Michael didn’t know what a preferred walk-on was exactly so he took the aid provided by Pacific. But after less than a year in Forest Grove, Oregon, Michael knew he needed a greater challenge.
“My goal had always been to make it Division I,” Michael said. “Coming from a small school coming out of high school, I went the D-III route but after that first year, I knew I could be more.”
Upon arrival in Bozeman, Michael found himself behind Moore, a senior captain and eventual All-Big Sky selection. Former MSU defensive end Luke Halliburton suffered a career-ending leg injury a few games into the 2014 season and Michael took over all Haliburton’s special teams reps.
The following year, Bignell had one of the breakout spring drills and fall camps of any Bobcat, snatching the starting Sam position. Last season, Bignell lived in opponents’ backfields, buoying an otherwise inconsistent defense. Michael has had to lay in wait, taking out his aggression chasing down kick and punt returners rather than running backs.
“As soon as Cole left, my goal was to be the starter, that’s always been my goal,” Michael said. “Mac has always been a great player I think we have a chemistry there. We push each other to be better. I’m happy for him. I’ll be the best backup Sam linebacker in the conference because I know he’s the best Sam linebacker in the conference. But I’ve always wanted to be on the field so I had to master something.”
Robertson said he noticed Michael’s toughness during spring drills. Michael has battled nicks, bumps and bruises since the end of the 2015 season but has missed less than a handful of practices because of it. Despite serving as a backup behind two All-Big Sky talents, Michael has never even murmured a word. Junior guard Monte Folsom said Michael has “the most unique energy on this team” and his presence, albeit not in the starting lineup, does not go unnoticed by the rest of the Bobcats.
“He has bought into his role 100 percent,” Ioane said. “He knows he’s playing a position where the guy in front of him is playing tremendous football. Joey is ready at any given point to go in and play his tail off. But at this point, his role is to play on special teams and be an absolute stud for us on all four units. That’s what makes a great team: guys like him buying in.”
Buying in has been one thing, but performing well has been another. Michael feels a great sense of camaraderie with his team, even if it’s not the starting role he dreamed of once upon a time.
“Perseverance and hard work pays off,” Michael said. “What you do when no one is looking does come to light when you are on the playing field. Hard work gets you what you want even if it’s not 100 percent your full dream. I’m still on the field quite a bit on a D-I football field competing against good football players.
“Being a captain on Saturday will be pretty awesome. I wasn’t a captain in high school but I was elected game captain one time so I’ve done one coin toss. I never expected to go out and help with the coin toss, especially at Montana State. It will be a cool, rewarding feeling and it will make all this worth it.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.